Veterans Day - November 11

I'm not sure if you would have enough time for this, but how about a homework assignment to find out who if anyone in your students' own families have served or are serving in the military. Then, have all students participate in honoring those family members in some way. Perhaps you could display all their names together on a patriotically colored bulletin board or temporary tag board display. The essence of Veterans Day is to publicly thank, honor and remember all the men and women who served in the military. Why not start right at home!

You could teach students the difference between Veterans Day (honoring those who served) and Memorial Day (honoring those who died while serving). Veterans Day is a celebration originally marking the end of "The Great War" (World War I).

If you have a local Veterans Hospital near your school you could have students design cards and make pictures to send to the veterans. You may be able to have some students hand deliver these cards. Also you may want to speak to the hospital to see if the veterans need any supplies such as hand lotion, wash clothes, books, magazines, etc. Your school could do a drive to collect these items then package them and deliver them to the hospital. You may want to video tape any special performances such as singing songs or skits and send a few copies to the hospital for the veterans to watch.

We had a WONDERFUL Veterans' Day assembly last year. Our students sang patriotic songs (God Bless America, My Country 'tis of Thee, America, & God Bless the USA.) We invited veterans who were relatives of our students to attend. They could share their experiences, and about 5 chose to do so. It was so important for our students to understand the hardships that these men (in our case, but women vets were certainly welcome!) endured, and yet every one said how proud he was to have served his country and how much he loved his country. We had an inspirational reading by one of our teachers from Chicken Soup for the Veteran's Soul, and a heartfelt address from our principal, who also happens to be a veteran. It was a very moving day.

It is not solely about Veterans' Day, but Eve Bunting's The Wall is a WONDERFUL book (dealing with a child's visit to the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial to find his grandfather's name) that can easily lead in to a discussion of what a veteran is and why veterans are so important to this country.